I recently purchased my first car with a sunroof. With the weather turning nice, my kids are loving it. I obviously don’t let them sticks their heads out of it while moving. But I can’t help but think that there’s at least a small chance that a flying object could get through the hole and potentially injure them. It’s clearly less probable when traveling fast on a highway, but oftentimes with traffic and in local areas, we’re not moving very fast.
Has anyone experienced or heard of someone getting injured due to an open sunroof? I’m just wondering how concerned I should be.
I have never heard of anyone getting hurt by one. An object would have to be travelling at a very unlikely angle (almost straight down) to make it through the sunroof and, even then, it still might not hit anyone inside.
If you’re concerned about sunroofs, let me ask you this: Are you concerned about walking outside, on the sidewalk, without a helmet?
If you’re merely concerned about debris being thrown up from the highway, then you need to realized that cars have to be going reasonably fast to throw debris several feet up into the air. *But *at that speed, the chances of something passing through your sunroof approaches 0.
Briefly googling “sunroof danger” turns up one story of a kid who was almost strangledwhen it was being closed, and a few items about how they’re not so sturdy should you get in an accident and roll over. Neither has anything to do with an object falling into the car* through the sunroof opening anyway.
A dead pigeon dropping straight out of the sky and going directly through the hole, maybe. Otherwise, I don’t see how the physics of airflow would allow it.
After some of the objects that I’ve seen fall off/out of Manhattan office buildings over the years, I actually am sometimes (especially on windy days). But I understand what you mean…
I’ve had a few friends on long drives end up with one sunburned shoulder/arm/side of face, but that’s the only injury I’ve heard of. But again, not much different then being outside for a few hours other then not expecting it.
I can’t believe that I forgot about my ex-wife’s sunroof injury. During an accident with her Rav4, the sunroof came crashing down on top of her slicing her head open. She needed about 20 stitches. But again, that is an entirely different question than the OP.
If you’re driving slowly past a college dorm or fraternity, on a nice sunny day, and there are anamolous wet spots and bits of latex on the road/sidewalk in front of the building, you may want to close your sunroof. Just to be safe.
About 20 years ago, I was in the back seat of a limo, stuck in traffic in Soho, headed towards the Holland Tunnel (and our flight at Newark). The guy in the car next to us got out of his car, looked at his car, then looked up. A moment later, there was a “bang” on our car, as a chunk of metal hit the trunk of our car, about 18" behind my head. It turned out that there was some wacko on the roof of the adjacent building, chucking things off the roof and onto the traffic jam below. Within a minute or two, a half-dozen cops went running into that building. Just another strange day in NYC.
My family had a car with a sunroof while I was growing up, and other than a bug or two I don’t think anything ever came through it. Not a big concern, IMHO.
I’m not so sure I agree with all of that second link. I buy the part about it being a danger if it’s open and you roll over and aren’t belted in (or are in a passenger car whose seatbelt doesn’t hold you secure.) But the roof crush strength is nearly 100% due to the pillars and door aperture; the roof panel is a rather thin sheet of metal with a crossmember or two to hold shape.
I will never have another car with a sunroof. But that’s because the last one I had had a leak, and when it rained, especially during the monsoon season when it would pour buckets, the rain would accumulate on the sunroof, and then every time I went forward from stop, it would come in pouring down my back. Now that sensation will take your breath away, and not in a good way. I never had problems with objects coming in, though, just water.
Don’t know about all cars, but mine has a little spoiler that pops up when the sunroof is open. The spoiler diverts airflow up and over the sunroof opening, but I suspect that it would have the same effect on airborne debris (and insects!)
Having owned cars that have had sunroofs for the past twenty or so years I have to say there is nothing to worry about if you don’t do something stupid like let your kids hang out them while moving. I did have a friend get killed by being thrown through the sunroof on his Honda CRX back in the eighties. However he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt when the car rolled over, so it was more a case of operator fault than anything else.
Having driven sunroof cars and convertibles for over 30 years, I can say I’ve never had anything from above hit me or my passengers. Getting caught in the rain for a minute doesn’t count.
OTOH, I have taken a Junebug or two to the chest on a motorcycle at 70+mph. Zero fun.
